Santa Clarita, CA - Rory Sutherland of the Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis put on a bit of a show for title sponsor Health Net, which sponsored today's 6th stage of the Amgen Tour of California. He was one of the key riders animating the race, earning the red Tachyon Most Aggressive Rider jersey for his efforts in the main break of the day.

Sutherland was part of a six-man break that finally established itself on the slopes of the second rated climb of the stage, about 30 km into the 170 km stage. Sutherland was joined by Steven Cozza (Slipstream), Christophe Le Mevel (Credit Agricole), Karsten Kroon (CSC), Davide Canada (Saunier Duval) and Alexandre Pichot (Bouygues Telecom).

"Everyone in the break worked really well together," Sutherland said. "It was a good group. Everyone was happy and prepared to work. There were good teams represented, and everyone worked equally hard."

Their work was made a bit harder by a constant headwind. "I think there was one time when we turned and we got out the wind," Sutherland commented, "but them we turned soon after and it was back into it."

At its peak, the break had opened up a gap eclipsing the seven-minute mark, and when they crested the difficult Balcom Canyon Climb - the final rated climb on the route, an inexplicable Category 4 - the break still had seven minutes and things were looking good for it to stay away, especially with nobody in the group threatening the overall lead of Levi Leipheimer (Astana).

But once the peloton crested Balcom, the team's of the sprinters decided to take over for one more chance at a bunch sprint. With just under 70 km to go, Team High Road came to the fore to work for Mark Cavendish, then the Quick Step team of Tom Boonen and World Champion Paolo Bettini sent three riders up. The gap started to come down, and by the time the break hit the first of the finishing circuits, the gap had been carved to 1:30. The catch finally came early in the final 5.7 km circuit.

"Honestly I didn't think we'd last that long," Sutherland said. "But if you're in a break like that, you can't sit there and think that you're not going to make it to the finish. You just have to keep working."

Health Net-Maxxis Aggressive from the gun

The attacks began from kilometer one with Sutherland chasing down several early breaks before Frank Pipp of Health Net Presented by Maxxis got in the first break of the day to stick for any length of time, barely 12 km into the stage. That break achieved a maximum gap of 0:30 before being brought back. The counter-attacks started as soon as the catch was made. Those continued for the better part of 20 km until Sutherland's break finally stuck and the peloton settled down.

"This was a big stage for our sponsor, so it was really good that the break stayed away as long as it did," Sutherland said. "After all the misfortune the team has had with illness this week, it was also good for the morale of the team. The position I'm in on the team, it's part of my job to keep the morale up. It's my job to do as well as I can for the guys. I know Karl (Menzies), Phil (Zajicek), Matty (Crane) and Roman (Kilun) were all watching today and the rest of us were riding for them, too. But at the end of the day, it's still a race. And whether it's this race or the smallest race we do, we're still going to race hard and do what we can to win."

John Murphy, who took out 12th in the finishing sprint, felt the same way about his teammates, and about the effort. "With only four of us, there is a bit more pressure," he said. "But whether we have four guys or eight, it doesn't really change things. You do everything you can to get to the finish and get results."

Murphy almost didn't make it to the finish with the main bunch, dangling off the back on most of the climbs and putting in big efforts to rejoin the peloton.

"I didn't feel great today," he said. "I had to dig pretty deep every time I need to go hard. But I felt alright enough to chase back on. I got into the red a bit on some of the climbs but I didn't panic. I just sat in the cars until I could go again and chased back on.

"I felt pretty good once we got into the circuits and got into pretty good position for the sprint, he said, "but I just didn't have the kick in my legs to finish it."

Pipp was in much the same position, just a few wheels behind Murphy coming into the sprint, but he didn't have the pop either. "My training is really geared toward a bit later in the season," he said. "My role here was more to be for support for guys like Karl but that changed a bit the last couple days. But it was good to mix it up a bit in the end."

The sprint was won by Cavendish, however he received a 20-second penalty for illegal assistance from his team car and was relegated, giving the win to Brazilian Luciano Pagliarini (Saunier Duval). J.J. Haedo (CSC) and Bettini rounded out the podium.

Tim Johnson of Health Net Presented by Maxxis, who the past few days has been battling through the same respiratory flu that took Roman Kilun out of the race after Stage 5, was able to finish in the main bunch.